From ‘Piss Christ’ to Louvre’s Islamic wing, religious art makes headlines — but for all the wrong reasons

Those of us who are wont to whine about how the neglect of religious art have to acknowledge that the intersection of faith and art is making headlines. But that doesn’t mean we have to be happy about how it is being hijacked.

First, there is news that the Louvre in Paris has opened a new Islamic art wing. It’s worth putting this bluntly. Any museum of the Louvre’s stature, which has ambitions of providing a comprehensive survey of the history of art, ought to have a wing devoted to the arts of the Islamic world. I don’t know of any well-respected art historian who denies that Islamic art ought to be an absolutely vital fixture in museum collections, although I can imagine some advocating that Islamic art be spread throughout the museum, rather than quarantined in one particular section or exhibit.

Statue of Jesus/Shutterstock

So it’s disappointing to read coverage of the wing that immediately ties the new gallery into a larger political thrust, suggesting that the Islamic art wing is somehow some kind of oasis in a larger clash of civilizations.

“In the midst of the furor in the Muslim world over negative Western depictions of the prophet Muhammad, the Louvre on Saturday opened a new Islamic wing chock-full of 2,500 vintage ceramics, tapestries and other treasures from Islamic cultures stretching from Spain to India,” begins Devorah Lauter’s Los Angeles Times article.

That the cartoons and the film that have dominated the news are relevant goes without saying. It would be irresponsible to cover the opening of a new Islamic wing at a museum, which is the national treasure of a country that is dealing with the consumption of other kinds of controversial works of art. But in any way suggesting the one — which represents some of the greatest works ever created — is somehow an antidote for the other, which is amateurish and minuscule by comparison, is unfortunate. One is left pining for a time when a serious collection of Islamic art could be weighed in its own right, without dragging politics into the equation.

Across the pond, Piss Christ, the infamous work by Andres Serrano, will be arriving in New York, reports FOX News, which wonders aloud whether the photograph will draw the same criticism from the White House that the film Innocence of Muslims attracted.

“So will the Obama Administration condemn the anti-Christian art display? Will they air a television ad denouncing the exhibit? Will the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ask the gallery to cancel the exhibit?” writes Todd Starnes of FOX News. “The White House did not return calls seeking comment. Neither did the Pentagon.”

As I wrote previously, it’s questionable whether the White House should have provided any kind of statement (let alone repeating the condemnation so many times) about the film, but now that it did, Starnes may have a point about being consistent.

Writing in “Exploiting the Prophet” in the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof leads with Piss Christ, and adds that the photograph led to no more riots from conservative Christians than the Book of Mormon has from Mormons.

“So why do parts of the Islamic world erupt in violence over insults to the Prophet Muhammad?” asks Kristof. He allows that some cool-headed context is necessary — “Remember also that it’s not just Muslims who periodically go berserk, but everybody — particularly in societies with large numbers of poorly educated young men” — before addressing free speech, or the lack thereof, in the Islamic world. His ultimate point appears to be optimistic for the future, whether near or more distant.

Obviously, working through the differences that lead to riots (and tragic loss of life) is far more important than getting religion and arts reporting right, but one hopes that important stories about faith and art won’t always have to answer to politics to justify itself.